Current School Board President Rodney Baechtold Jr. had been in the running, but dropped out because of personal time constraints.

"I feel I have a lot more to contribute. There are projects I would like to see through to completion. I have the experience and background to make sure we are successful," said Woods, who has served two terms on the school board.

The district must preserve its current level of academic programming, despite budget cuts from the state. The solution is to look for "efficiencies in every area of the budget, as well as money-saving opportunities," Woods said.

"We have to continue to advocate for fair funding/tax reform and efficiency in every area of our budget," she said. "I would like to see the district in a secure financial state to ensure appropriate academic programming for our students and a promise of efficiency to our taxpayers."

There's plenty of unfinished business Pierce hopes to complete if he's re-elected.

"One, we just got the (Johnson Controls) energy reduction plan in place. The next thing I want to work on is switching our buses over to natural compressed gas. The savings over diesel would allow the district to purchase a new fleet of buses, and it's better for the environment," he said.

Pierce says his experience gives him advantages over the newer candidates.

"It took a couple years to learn the code, set-up and dynamics of the board. There are a number of items that have been started to help the district as a whole that I want to see through," he said.

Harper wants to give back to the community.

"I have a vested interest in the community. I've established roots here. I'm a father of three. Two of my children went through the school district beginning in 1998. My other child is in kindergarten now, and I've watched the changes, both in the school system and real estate market. In order for this area to compete and thrive, we need to attract families and businesses," he said.

Harper used to be the chief security officer at Battery Park City in New York, where he was working during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and during the Miracle on the Hudson plane landing.

"Through these experiences, I've had the opportunity to see what happens when people work together. I've also had the opportunity to learn how to work with less. I just thought it was time to contribute in a deeper way to the entire well-being of the community," he said.

School board officials should connect with other members of the community, Harper said.

"One of my first goals would be to talk to everyone," he said, adding that residents, parents, students, teachers and business owners in the community should be heard from on a regular basis.

"I want to make sure everyone understands I'm an independent thinker, so I'm going to vote and make decisions for what I think is right," he said.

Susinskas says she's a well-rounded candidate.

"My husband and I work in the community, and our two boys attend school in SASD," she said. "My profession is a commercial relationship manager. I provide financing to businesses and commercial development within the area, and work with them to support their growth."

Susinskas believes her experience will be an asset to the board.

"A career in accountancy and the ability to work with budgets and forecasting will enhance the board and contribute toward making decisions that affect the community and education on a short-term and long-term basis," she said.

The biggest issue facing the district is the need to balance its budget without sacrificing quality education.

"Budgetary problems cause schools to make short-sighted decisions that could be detrimental to a child's learning. Collaboration and creativity will enable solutions to balance education to funding. Quality education is imperative for the next generation to be productive members of our community," she said.

Mercurio, the parent of two sons in fourth and sixth grade, felt volunteering for the school board was another way to support the community.

"I think the biggest issue facing the district right now is being able to provide the same quality education with the funding issues we are facing. No one wants teachers cut or taxes to go up anymore, but we still want to ensure our kids are receiving the best education they can and that they are prepared to go out into the community or go on to college," she said.

The goals may be the same every year, but each year funding is different, Mercurio said. "I hope what I can bring to the board is the ability to work in collaboration with the other members of our community, and just to give our students the best education we can give them, given the restraints everyone is under," she said.

Mercurio also wants to ensure students have a safe, supportive environment when they come to school.

"I want to make sure we are looking at safety and security in a very multifaceted area, not just in a crisis. Maybe kids are coming from a home where a parent lost a job or a parent is sick. We need to recognize the needs of our students," Mercurio said.

Teachers play a big part in that.

"As a breast cancer survivor, one of the first places I went to for support for my children was their teachers and principal. A lot of times I think we look at teachers as educators, but they are so much more than that. They are the caregivers and protectors, and they really help our children grow," Mercurio said.

Stewart says it's the gratitude for the education his children received and a desire to serve the school district and community that has encouraged him to run. The current teachers' contract and the new construction have put severe pressure on the finances of the school district, he said.

"Our taxes have been raised to the point where families and businesses are choosing to locate elsewhere. Remarkably, the cost of operating our schools continues to rise, while enrollments have declined significantly in recent years. Simply put, we are paying more for less. That's no way to run any organization," Stewart said.

Stewart would have liked to see the board consider cost-saving measures that would have made it possible to reduce layoffs and decrease the burden on taxpayers.

In addition to seeking additional funding sources, and understanding that past tax increases have put financial pressure on families in the district, Stewart would like the school board to seek the input of school employees, students and the public.

"I have no doubt the faculty and staff of the school district know where there are inefficiencies and where cuts can be made that will have minimal impact on our students and their education," Stewart said.

Blake, who regularly attends the school board meetings, decided to run because she believes the district could use more transparency.

"I felt that we didn't have enough and being a community person, I think that we can get more done with community involvement. It seems to be less and less as the years go by," she said.

The budget is definitely the district's biggest issue.

"It drives everything our schools do, and if we can't afford it, then we have to prioritize. I think we have to strive for a solid foundation in order to support effective communication. We have to successfully manage our money better. We have a responsibility to budget within our means," Blake said.

School district officials need to stop wasteful spending.

"I don't think people understand how much we have in wasteful spending because they don't see the budget reports, they don't see what goes on," Blake said.

She also believes teachers and administrators should have taken more wage concessions.

"They get an incredible raise during a recession when no one else did, to the point that they are one of the highest-paid districts in this area, and we don't have the people in this area to pay that kind of money. People don't make that kind of money in this area, you're almost forcing people to commute outside the area to pay this tax," Blake said.

If elected, she hopes to provide "the best effective education for the least amount of cost."

Strasser is running for the chance to improve the school board and the district.

"The biggest issue as far as I'm concerned is educating our children for a fair value, and I don't think we are getting that," he said.

In addition, Strasser is also concerned about the teachers' contract negotiations.

"The lion's share of the budget, the salaries and benefits associated with it, and the negotiations with the teachers and other employees, is probably paramount to saving money," he said. "Although I must admit, keeping schools open when a campus mentality has perpetuated itself into the school district, I don't know where the cost savings would be elsewhere except to close out buildings."

Strasser also has an interest in the sciences.

"I would like very much to include more science and the composition of scientific studies. I would like to go ahead and see some more (elective science and math-based courses) instead of spending so much money on buildings and athletics," he said.

If elected, Strasser would like to foster a better relationship between the school board and the community.

"I don't see the school district talking to the Realtors or the businesses — those places that actually employ these people," he said. "The board is dealing in isolation, except for the parents and teachers. With that, I think we can develop a dialogue," he said.

Cardelle, a former member of the Stroudsburg School Board, believes her strong belief in community service, her experience and education make her an exceptional candidate.

"I understand the issues facing our district and know how important it is to our local economy that we educate our youth well and do that in the most economically efficient way that we can," she said.

The biggest issues facing the district right now are two-fold.

The first is the district is underfunded by the state and there is a heavy reliance on local property taxes, which has hurt Monroe County taxpayers, Cardelle said. The second is district officials need to be constantly evaluating and improving the way they prepare students for life after high school.

"We need to do a better job of bringing together the administrators and educators in the district to find the most effective and efficient methods for delivering a top quality education to our students. In the end, we all want our students to get a good education and our taxpayers — especially those living on a fixed income — to be able to afford their homes," Cardelle said.

"I think district officials need to do a better job of keeping the public informed of the implications — both financial and educational — of the different options available to the district, the decisions being made, and why those decisions were made," she said.